Digital Digest #48 - Disinformation at scale, the Hermès of podcasts; OpenAI is launching... something

Hi everyone,

Happy Monday and welcome to this week's edition of Digital Digest! Another busy week in the digital space, with a bumper haul of stories - a fascinating piece on "the Hermès of podcasts", rumors of an upcoming OpenAI product launch, unsurprising but still notable news that Facebook-driven traffic to publishers has continued to crater, and the nausea-inducing potential of mixed reality games for car passengers.

But first, the use of AI by a Russian disinformation network to publish a whopping 19,000 stories in one month.

1. AI-created disinformation at scale

A Russia-aligned network of websites used a large language model - most likely made by OpenAI - to publish 19,000 stories in one month. (The Economist)

• Why it matters: While the threat of deepfakes gets a lot of the headlines, the ability for bad actors to create and publish content at high levels of quality and volume is one of the key disinformation-fueled threats posed by generative AI tools.

Also in disinformation news:

• Cybersecurity in a race to unmask a new wave of AI-borne deepfakes (Dark Reading)
• TikTok will now label content created by external AI tools (Social Media Today)
• OpenAI says it can now detect images spawned by Its software—most of the time (Wall Street Journal, New York Times)
• Met Gala AI photos of Katy Perry, Rihanna and Dua Lipa trick the internet (NPR)

2. The Hermès of podcasts

Ever heard of the Acquired podcast? If not, you should. Ben Cohen at the Wall Street Journal wrote a compelling piece about the show that covers the stories of successful companies with the unconventional model of monthly, four-hour-long episodes that command $400-600k for a four-episode sponsorship. Interestingly, he notes that it costs $40k per month just to sponsor the show's archives page. (Wall Street Journal)

• Why it matters: There's something incredibly compelling (and profitable, apparently) about a show that knows what it does, and does it well. Business leaders agree - 40% of Acquired's listeners are apparently C-suite or VP-level executives. Probably why it costs so much to sponsor it.

3. OpenAI to launch… something

Rumors abound about a potential new product launch from ChatGPT creator OpenAI on Monday. Rumors of a search engine have persisted in recent weeks and gathered speed last week with speculation it would launch today, but CEO Sam Altman appeared to dispel them on Friday, tweeting (?) that an announcement is indeed coming but that it wouldn't be a search engine. At time of writing, speculation is that the company will announce some form of multi-modal voice assistant. (Reuters, BGR, Mashable, Sam Altman on X)

• Why it matters: OpenAI's last major product announcements were made at its DevDay event in November last year - just a few months ago but it (bizarrely) feels like an eternity in this fast-moving landscape. A voice assistant would build on OpenAI's voice and image capabilities which it announced in September. Interestingly, Apple is reportedly revamping Siri, while stories abound that it is working to incorporate ChatGPT into iOS 18.

Also in generative AI news:

• LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman debated his AI doppelganger in a video posted on LinkedIn (LinkedIn)
• Facebook’s AI spam Isn’t the ‘dead Internet’: It’s the zombie Internet (404 Media)
• Watch the first major music video generated by OpenAI’s Sora (Mashable)
• YouTube’s new AI tool helps creators come up with video ideas (BGR)

4. Publishers' traffic from Facebook craters

Publisher referrals from Facebook have declined by more than 50% in the last 12 months, according to a new report. (Social Media Today)

• Why it matters: While Meta continues to claim it is not 'anti-news', the trends here are telling - with ongoing complexities from legislative battles in various markets (I still can't see news on Meta platforms up here in Canada), moves to limit political content and the refusal of Threads to capitalize on Twitter's implosion in the real-time news space.

5. AR games in cars

As cars become more high-tech, companies are experimenting with bringing mixed reality games to the riding experience. (Axios)

• Why it matters: Coming from a house with two motion sickness-prone children, my reaction to this is one of horror and barf bag preparation.

Have a great week!

Dave